Two founders with extensive backgrounds in financial technology and regulatory matters have closed on a $1.7 million, pre-seed funding round for a Charlotte startup focusing on artificial intelligence for banks.
Founded in May, fintech startup Vectari designs bank-grade AI tools to help financial services companies maximize efficiency and compliance in client-focused functions such as complaint management and Spanish-language engagement. The company plans to use its first capital raise to expedite research, development and sales for those two initial product offerings.
The round's investors included the Charlotte Fund, Richmond, Virginia-based Walnut Grove Holdings and participation from 11 other backers. Vectari originally planned to raise $1 million but surpassed that due to the local community's substantial support of its mission, said Alexandra O'Rourke, president and co-founder of the startup.
"The sort of regulatory-sensitive communication points are what we're focused on," she said. "We're using AI to make the analysis of those and the management of those easier, cheaper and faster. We're seeing the work that used to take me — as a lawyer with 15 helpers — three months to do, now I'm doing in a day and a half."
Vectari was co-founded by O'Rourke and CEO Chris Hart, with roughly 40 years of combined experience in the legal and fintech space. O'Rourke started her career as a law clerk in U.S. District Court in 2008. She stayed in that field for over a decade, working in various roles such as a senior counsel of office law and policy at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She was also a partner and fintech co-lead at both Charlotte-based McGuire Woods and Womble Bond Dickinson.
O'Rourke also worked at Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), serving in roles such as assistant general counsel and senior vice president for digital banking and advanced solutions in the legal department. She was an honoree in CBJ's 40 under 40 awards program in 2020. In addition to Vectari, O'Rourke currently serves as general counsel at Valon Technologies, a Series B startup created to use technology to strengthen mortgage servicing.
Hart has experience in both early-stage and fast-growing startups, as well as global banks. He served as CEO and co-founder of Levvel, a Charlotte technology consulting firm that was acquired by London-based Endava in 2021. Hart stayed with Endava following the deal as its North American executive vice president until December of last year. Prior to his roles at Endava and Levvel, he worked in consumer banking and payments technology leadership roles at large companies such as Bank of America and TIAA.
Hart and O'Rourke said they met around 2017 through their work as committee members at the Carolina Fintech Hub. They each shared a vision of helping the Carolinas and the Charlotte region grow as a destination for fintech companies.
"I think, as we were catching up in the beginning part of this year and seeing what was going on in the field of AI and both of us having a different lens on the same underlying challenges and opportunities that existed in financial services, it just started clicking," Hart said.
O'Rourke said the company plans to raise another a funding round at a higher value in 2024. The company is also working to build a small team while in its early stage. By the middle of next year, Vectari hopes to have a strong portfolio of product offerings and solutions to help the financial services industry use AI in an effective, yet compliant, manner.
"I think, as we look at the opportunity that AI creates for financial services in general, that was such an exciting space for us," Hart said. "These are really, really meaningful problems that we can make a really big difference for the financial services industry with, and it's only possible because of the latest technology improvements."
